In Leo Rosten's book, The Joys of Yiddish, he defines the Yiddish word for people from the Hungarian/Polish region of Galicia, as "Galitzianers"(McGraw Hill, 1968), pp. 122-23. In singular masculine form, one would refer to the person as a "Galitz." See, e.g., Mickey Katz' recording of "Sound Off," on the album "Borscht Riders in the Sky." He explains that in the Jewish world, Galitzianers were known for putting on airs. From my experience, that means crystal chandeliers in the front foyer and the dining room, elaborate silver collection, elaborate satin robes and fur streimels (hats) for Hasidic men from that region. Moreover, their baked noodle puddings ("kugels") were sweet and moist, in stark contrast to Russians and "Litvaks" (Lithuanian) Jews who preferred a plan potato kugel for the Sabbath meal and formal, but less dressy clothing and furnishings. When my contemporary, who studied at the Mir Yeshiva branch in New York, was going on blind dates with girls from Galitzianer heritage, his roommate would ask, "seen any good chandeliers?"
So I've wondered if the word "glitz" or "glitzy" has any linguistic connection to "Galitz" because, after all, if a Galitz owned anything, it had to be glitzy. My 1964 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary doesn't have either word. Dictionary.com says it is slang of relatively recent vintage, ca. 1970-1975 (a surprise to me -- I thought it was older), and its source may be a combination of "glitter" and "Ritz." It also points to the word "glitzy" as its source, that word having come into use during the 1960s and likely a Yiddish variation of the German word "glitzen" (meaning "glitter").
It is hard for me to believe that, at least in Yiddish, the word "glitzy" was invented within my lifetime. Admittedly, it does not appear in Rosten's 1968 edition of Joys of Yiddish, and I haven't checked is 21st century update. To me, "glitzy" and "Galitz" are a natural pair. Does any authority recognize a legitimate linguistic connection between these words, other than coincidence? Can somebody point me to the first recorded use of the word "glitzy" in either the Yiddish or English vernacular?
GL-
words are a good example; they have one set of words that refers to sparkly things (similar to the Color/Eye meaning ofBL-
words), and a set that refers to things that stick together (similar to the meaning ofKL-
words). The first set is the one involved in glitzy, glisten, and glitter. – jlawler Jun 16 '16 at 2:05